Hiram b



(No Model.)

H. B. DAVIS. TUG FASTENBR.

N0. 463',775. Patented Nov. 24, 1891.

WITNESSES. l/VVE/VTOR 1 Q I n v V i M ATTORNEY.

rrn STATES HIRAM B. DAVIS, OF DENVER, COLORADO, ASSIGNOR OF FIVE-EIGI-ITHS TO ALBERT S. VHITAKER AND EDWVARD M. GRIFFITH, OF SAME PLACE.

TUG -FASTENER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 463,775, dated November 24, 1891.

Application filed February 16,1891. Serial No. 381,729. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HIRAM B. DAVIS, a citizen of the United States of America, residin g at Denver, in the county of Arapahoe and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tug-Fasteners; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,

such as will enable others skilled in the art to to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to a new and improved form and construction of tug-fastener or device for retaining the tugs or traces on the extremities of the whiffletrees of vehicles; and the object of my invention is to produce a device of the class stated, which, while being simple in construction, economical in cost, and ornamental in use, shall at the same time be reliable and durable in use and efficient for the.

purpose intended; a device so constructed 2 5 that it shall afford great ease and convenience in hitching the traces or tugs to the vehicle and shall hold them safely and securely thereto, and which shall permit them to be as easily and quickly detached therefrom by the proper o manipulation; a device which, though designed more especially for use on the whiffletrees of light vehicles, as road-carts, buggies, and carriages, and to be used with such harness as have their traces or tugs attached to 3 5 the whiffletrees by passing the ends of the whiffletrees through a slot or aperture made in the extremity thereof, may be so modified as to be used on whiffletrees and in connection with harness of a heavier construction, 0 and a device possessing important advantages over tug-fasteners as hitherto constructed, as will be hereinafter set forth.

To these ends my invention consists of the features hereinafter described and claimed. 4 5 In the accompanying drawings is illustrated an embodiment of my invention, wherein- Figure 1 is an end view of a whiftletree provided with my improved tug-fastener, the trace or tug hitched thereto being shown in dot-ted lines. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the device, the same being shown in position on the extremity of a whiffletree. Fig. 3 is a top or plan View of the device removed from the whiffletree.

Referring now to the views, wherein similar reference characters designate corresponding parts of the mechanism, the reference-numeral 1 designates the base-plate of my improved device, which is secured to the whiffletree 2 by means of screws 3, which are passed through suitable apertures with which the base-plate 1 is provided, said apertures being of any desired number and located at any desired part of the base-plate, though preferably at the ends thereof, as shown in the drawings.

Located at or near the inner extremity of the base-plate 1, or at the extremity thereof most remote from the extremity of the whiffletree to which the device is secured, is a lug or shoulder 4, adapted to prevent the tug or trace of the harness from slipping farther on the whiffletree. This lug or shoulder may be either rigidly secured to base-plate 1 or made, integral therewith, as shown in the drawings. 7 5 At a convenient distance between the lug or shoulder 4 and the outer extremity of the device is located a slot 5, terminating at its outer extremity in a groove 6, at the outer extremity of which is an aperture 7, said aperture be- So ing the termination of the groove. In this aperture is secured in any suitable manner, as by riveting, an arm 8 of a spring 9, the remaining arm 10 thereof extending through slot 5 at its inner extremity, where it forms an obstacle to the tug in returning thereover until it is depressed, as hereinafter set forth. Directly beneath the longer or free arm 10 is a socket 11, (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2,) into which said arm passes when the spring 9c is depressed, as when it is desired to either hitch a tug to or detach it from the whiffletree. Thus it will be seen that when desired the spring may be depressed so as to lie in slot 5,- together with groove 6, the arm 10 ex- 5 tending down into socket 11, when the tug may be either slipped on or off the whifiletree,

as the case may be, the spring being entirely out of the way, while when the spring is released it immediately springs back to its IOO normal position or the position shown in the drawings, when it will prevent the tug from slipping oif from the whiffiet-ree.

By the use of the device as herein shown and described itwill be seen that I have a safe, convenient, reliable, durable, and ornamental tug-fastener which is believed to meet in every respect the requirements made of such a device.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- A tug-fastener consisting of a plate adapted to be secured to the Whifiletree, but readily detachable therefrom, said plate being pro- 1 5 vid ed with a spring having its outer extremity secured thereto so as to be about level therewith, said spring rising in an inclined plane toward the inner extremity, which is highest, whereby the spring yields to the pressure of the tug as it is slipped thereover, the spring immediately rising so as to lock the tug in place, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

innAM n. DAVIS.

W it-nesses:

WM. MoCoNNnLL, FRANKLIN II. JOHNSON. 

